Hi, I'm Dan Taylor, the artist behind Rainbow Renaissance: Thriving Through Tribulations.
While this beautiful Japanese red maple tree didn't make it through the hard freeze of 2022, the artist in me saw an amazingly beautiful, and quite sculptural, stump. For more than a year, I've been thinking about how I could transform the remains of the magnificent tree into a work of art and it dawned on me. With the 2024 Chain of Parks Art Festival and Tallahassee Pridefest happening on the same weekend of April 20-21, it presented me with an opportunity to celebrate the resilience and the power of embracing diversity.
With a roll of commercial aluminum foil and tape in hand, I got to work. Each limb, covered in foil, catches the sunlight, casting a pop of glimmer into the gardens. You'll notice rainbow-colored wooden discs adorning the branches, transforming the trunk into an intriguing sculpture. This fusion of nature and art invites contemplation and celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.
My vision for this sculpture weaves together multiple threads of history and identity. It pays homage to LeMoyne's founding year of 1963, coinciding with my birth year and Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic march on Washington in the same year, with the support of Bayard Rustin, an openly gay Black man.
It's very fitting to me that this Pride sculpture is just steps from LeMoyne’s new African American Tribute Garden, a beautiful acknowledgment of the many challenges faced by the LGBTQ community in the past, with a look ahead to a bright future.
As you continue your journey through the gardens, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the message of this piece as it serves as a symbol of unity and strength found in embracing our differences.
